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SJSU’s Women’s Track and Field Team Lacks a Proper Facility

San Jose State has a long and proud history when it comes to their track and field program, but since the re-establishment of the women's track and field team, athletes have been practicing in an unsafe facility. Scott Budman reports. (Published Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017)

San Jose State has a long and proud history when it comes to their track and field program, but since the re-establishment of the women's track and field team, athletes have been practicing in an unsafe facility.

The field where the female athletes practice is not your traditional facility but rather the additional parking area for sports teams and even the tailgate zone during major sporting events.

"People are like 'where is the track?' and we have to explain 'oh you know...it's not really a track, but we practice here,'" said long jump Moutain West Champion Kelsey Johnson-Upshaw in an interview with the Spear.

Many students claim sexism is the reason the women's team practices in a field filled with potholes, strewn with shards of glass and bottle caps, but the university says they need money to make changes.

The women's track and field team practices in a field filled with potholes strewn with shards of glass and bottle caps. (Nov. 14, 2017)
Photo credit: NBC Bay Area

Neither the school nor its athletic department would comment on camera about the field's conditions but claim that by 2018, when the men's track team is reformed, improvements will come.

According to the San Jose State Athletic South Campus master plan, $5 million are needed to create a permanent and safe facility for the women's team, but plans for this have been delayed.

The women's track and field team practices in a field filled with potholes strewn with shards of glass and bottle caps. (Nov. 14, 2017)
Photo credit: NBC Bay Area

"We are currently discussing the location and the plan for a permanent track facility that must be privately funded," said Athletic Director Marie Tuite. "In the meantime, we are exploring possible temporary solutions under the funding that can be secured.